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<font size=3><br><br>
</font><h5><b>President Aristide receives a red carpet welcome in South
Africa this Monday<br>
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<br><br>
</b></h5><font size=2><b>Port-au-Prince, May 31, 2004 ;(AHP)- </b>The red
carpet was rolled out to welcome President Aristide upon his arrival
Monday at the Johannesburg airport in South Africa.<br><br>
South African President Thabo Mbeki was at the airport to welcome
President Aristide.<br><br>
Despite reservations expressed by a sector of the South African
opposition, Mr. Aristide could remain as long as necessary in South
Africa while awaiting the normalization of the situation in his country
before returning home, said South African leaders. <br><br>
Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrived from Jamaica with his wife and their two
daughters. <br><br>
He traveled to Jamaica after having spent two weeks in the central
African Republic following his departure from Haiti on February 29 under
circumstances that have been described as clouded. <br><br>
His arrival in Jamaica in mid-March aroused tremendous anxiety on the
part of the Latortue government. <br><br>
Interim Prime Ministry Gérard Latortue as well as several leaders of the
former opposition said at that time that they in a panic, and explained
that the presence of Aristide very close to Haiti could cause trouble
there. <br><br>
Despite the fact that several sectors had recalled that the Haitian
Constitution does not allow for exile and that it was very serious to
seek to prevent a Haitian from even being received in a country close to
his homeland, Mr. Latortue had decided to go all the way, recalling the
Haitian Ambassador to Jamaica and making statements against CARICOM that
were seen as causing a commotion and not diplomatic.<br><br>
The positions taken by the provisional prime minister have since created
unease between Haiti and CARICOM. Consequently, a request by Latortue to
take part in the last CARICOM assembly was rejected. <br><br>
For the past two weeks, CARICOM has been pressuring the OAS to hold a
special session to determine the circumstances under which President
Aristide left power on February 29, 2004. <br><br>
Despite the talks by Haiti's provisional representative to the OAS aimed
at persuading CARICOM to abandon its decision, the matter is set to be
discussed at the next OAS Assembly in Ecuador. <br><br>
In receiving President Aristide Monday morning in South Africa, the full
apparatus of the State and almost all members of the diplomatic corps of
the African continent were involved. <br><br>
Jean-Bertrand Aristide pointed out before leaving Jamaica that he remains
the legitimate president of Haiti, and thanked all who have provided him
accommodations to date: the Central African Empire, Jamaica and now South
Africa. <br><br>
A provisional president was installed in Haiti three months ago, but many
believe that the situation there remains confused. Security conditions,
the political situation and the economy continue to deteriorate, the
observers note. <br><br>
Many sectors, including those who took part in the anti-Aristide GNB
movement in February, feel that "the technocrats who were parachuted
into power do not know the territory". A host from a political
broadcast said to be close to the new government went so far as to speak
in terms of chaos. <br><br>
Human rights violations, political persecution, arbitrary arrests, and
prolonged preventive detention directed at supporters of Fanmi Lavalas,
the party of Aristide, are regularly denounced. <br><br>
At the same time, the interim government decided two weeks ago for
reasons that remain unknown to place seals on the doors of Radio and
Télétimoun, two broadcasters operating under the Aristide Foundation for
Democracy. <br><br>
President Aristide, in 1990, became the first chief of State to be
elected democratically in the country's entire history. He was re-elected
for a second term in November 2000 through elections in which most of the
opposition political parties did not participate, as they said they were
protesting irregularities that marked, in their view, the legislative
elections organized four months earlier. <br><br>
In reality, what happened was that seven or eight Senators were
proclaimed winners by the electoral council, however the OAS electoral
observation mission said that they were leading in the polls, but were
not first-round winners. These Senators then took the initiative of
resigning several months later to facilitate the resolution of the
conflict. <br><br>
In related news, President Aristide received an honorary plaque presented
by students of the University of the West Indies on Sunday before leaving
Jamaica. <br><br>
"This plaque is recognition of your struggle in favor of human
dignity and your courage in the face of adversity", declared the
students, who spoke Sunday, placing the presentation of this plaque
within the context of the celebration of Haiti's bicentennial of
independence. <br><br>
They hailed President Aristide for having the courage, as they put it, to
seek from France the restitution of the debt of independence and
reparations for the slaves who were victims of atrocities during the age
of slavery. <br><br>
<br>
</font><h5><b>AHP May 31, 2004 1:20 PM
</b></h5><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
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